Lake Simcoe Greenlands Project

Project Goals:

To gather the resources (people and funds) and prepare a plan that will enable RLSC and its partners to protect 40% of the Lake Simcoe watershed as natural cover, or “greenlands”;

To protect natural cover in 40% of the Oro-Medonte portion of the Lake Simcoe watershed;

To build and share a resource kit with local community groups involved in Official Plan reviews, or other opportunities, to protect natural cover;

To map what we find to report progress towards the 40% goal, and as a communication tool.

Rationale:

The provincially appointed Lake Simcoe Science Committee said that 40% of the Lake Simcoe watershed’s natural cover should be protected, for the health of the lake and its ecosystem. But the Lake Simcoe Protection Act and Plan do not identify a policy to achieve that target. To reach 40% we need to identify the extent of current protection, and move towards the 40% target using better policies and planning, and public and private land protection tools.